Dragoon
by michele2
Summary: My first fic. Please read & review.
1. Default Chapter

Prologue: The Legend of Dragoon 

            Long ago, before the formation of mountains, before the filling of seas and before the evolution of present day cultures, there raged a battle.  A grand battle determining the future of the world.  There was one powerful enemy who wished the end of the world and there were nine heroes who chose to fight it.  The ruination of the world first must start with the beginning.  

            Upon seeing the earth with no life, the great Soa planted a magical seed into the barren land.  This seed soon grew into a tree, The Divine Tree.  The fruits growing on The Divine Tree's enormous branches would soon blossom and fall to the earth.   The 108 races that would inhabit the earth were to be born of these fruits.  From the 105th race came the powerful Dragons with reduced intelligence as compensation.  The 106th race born of the fruits were Humans, created peaceful by Soa and each varied in brain and brawn.  Finally the last race born of the fruits of The Divine Tree were the winglies.   Soa graced the Winglies with wings made of light, the ability to use magic and longevity in life.  Unfortunately these traits caused the Winglies thoughts of superiority.  This thought of superiority meant the enslavement of all the races, including the race yet unborn.  Afraid of losing their rank as the last born of The Divine Tree, the winglies used magic to trap the last race within its fruit.

With the magical restraint placed by the Winglies, the last fruit named the God of Destruction could find no way to enter the world.  The body of the God of Destruction trapped inside the fruit ascended to the heavens, and became The Moon That Never Sets.  Melbu Frahma, one of the Wingly leaders, separated the soul of the God from its body.  He kept the God's soul in a container to draw power from to expand his own.

Tired of the endless oppression, humans used their knowledge and the dragon's strength to ignite the revolt called the Dragon Campaign.  This effort was close to futile.  No matter what humans tried the wingly's ability to use magic gained the advantage on the battlefield.  Humans then harnessed magic and caught the winglies off guard. When seven Dragons had met their unfortunate end, their elemental spirits would choose heroes to impart their abilities upon.  The combination of Dragon spirit and its bearer would breed a new type of hero, the Dragoon.  The seven chosen to first wield spirits used their new Dragoon armor, wings and weapons to aid the revolt against winglies.

In the final battle, the Dragoons destroyed the container with the God of Destruction's soul in it.  The Dragoons fought against a weaker Melbu Frahma and the winglie's controlled versions of the god of destruction.  Five of the seven dragoons died during battle.  Zieg, the Red-eye Dragoon thrust his sword into Melbu Frahma's stomach and was then petrified, from the last spell cast from Melbu Frahma.  The Darkness Dragoon fruitlessly stood by and watched her last companion fall down to the stone that he now matched.  In despair Rose, the Darkness Dragoon went to a wingly that she had found friendship in, Melbu's sister Charle.  Rose discovered that by destroying the container the soul was imprisoned in, it would begin re-incarnate itself into a human body.  History would name that child the moon child and only few knew the truth that time would soon forget.  "Count back every one hundred and eight years and the Moon That Never Sets glows blood red and the moon child descends upon the earth to give a holy blessing."   Realizing this, Rose asked Charle to make her immortal in order to keep the soul and body of the god from joining.  Becoming immortal, Rose lost herself throughout the many years in order to complete her goal of extinguishing the moon child and those around it destined to be its servants.

Eleven thousand years after the end of the Dragon Campaign, Rose discovers fate once again calling the Dragoons to battle.  Fate's call for the Dragoons begins with a war between an uncle and a nephew divide the country over power, when one side gains the advantage by using a Dragon.  A mysterious hooded man's search for the Moon Child results in the destruction of Dart's second home, his first home was destroyed by the Black Monster along with his family.  Dart, the future hero, would have a brief meeting with Rose where she would realize his destiny.  He would travel to Hellena prison rescuing an old friend named Shana and a new friend named Lavitz.  Dart, Lavitz and Shana would travel to the battlefield to aid in the war.  The first battle, Rose makes an appearance at the end and induces Dart's astonishing new transformation into the Red-eye Dragoon.  The four would travel along searching for the reason fate had called the dragoons to bear arms again.  Their journey would result in Lavitz receiving recognition from the Jade Dragoon Spirit with the elemental magic of wind and Shana being recognized by the White Silver Dragoon Spirit with the elemental magic of light.  Without the protection of Lavitz and his knighthood, a mysterious hooded man kidnapped Albert the king of Bale.  An angered Lavitz and his friends went after Albert.  The mysterious hooded man magically removed an object from the inside of Albert.  Charging at the hooded man was Lavitz transformed.  The hooded man pulled out an ancient sword with the power to impale Lavitz.  Albert was the one to receive the Jade Dragoon Spirit.

Extraordinary others who felt drawn to the four would join them in their journey and in their recognition of Dragoon spirits.  Haschel, a companion from Dart's travels found the Violet Dragoon Spirit recognizing him with the elemental magic of thunder.  Across the continent Endiness was a beautiful and cheerful young lady named Meru.  A stranger to Dart and the Dragoons, Meru felt a pull towards them and soon found the Blue-sea Dragoon Spirit's recognition with the elemental magic of water.  An enemy who's respect Dart had earned through fighting was the last giganto Kongol.  The Golden Dragoon Spirit with the elemental magic of earth recognized this giant warrior.  The group traveled to a crystal palace where there remained a link to the past.  Shana found herself called to this link, and separating from her friends went to it.  In front of this link, Shana could no longer contain the White Silver Dragoon Spirit and it was passed along to a royal habitant of the palace named Miranda.  Without her Dragoon spirit, Shana was helpless to capture again by the hooded man's employer.

The group traveled all over Endiness uncovering the legend of Soa and the past Rose had surprisingly been involved in.  They were also tracking the hooded man and the divine moon objects he stole resembling that which was stolen from Albert, but he had acquired a Dragoon spirit from the king of all dragons making him hard to defeat.  During the group's pursuit, many challenges arose, most involving the past.  The biggest challenge from the past was the sudden entrance of Dart's father, Zieg, the first Red-eye Dragoon.  Zieg then let loose the truth of Rose's other identity as the Black Monster and of Shana's other identity as the Moon Child.

After that meeting, Rose led the seven heroes to Charle Frahma to question Zieg's intentions.  Charle then told the seven about the Signets and the Signet Sphere.   Charle produced the Signet Sphere as a lock to limit the flow of magic Melbu received from the Moon That Never Sets.  Melbu produced the Signets as keys to open the lock in case he needed all the magic he could get.  Melbu never got the chance to use the Signets and humans obtained three Signets and divided it among the territories of Endiness.  Charle then warned the Dragoons that if the signets unlocked the signet sphere the moon child and The Moon That Never Sets could combine to give birth to the God of Destruction.  With their new goal of protecting the signets, the Dragoons set off for the three Wingly cities, Aglis, Zenebatos and Mayfil.

After sailing to Haschel's homeland of Rouge, the city of Aglis, which had been built for the study of magic, appeared out of the surrounding sea.  Finding another friendly Wingly inside studying magic, the group did what they could to aid in creating a new Signet and a powerful bomb.  Somehow, Zieg took control of a powerful sea creature and went after the Signet.  The dragoons defeated this creature but inadvertently destroyed the Signet during the battle.  Being sent away from the blast, the seven traveled to the next city of Zenebatos where laws for all creatures where made and enforced by the winglies.  Finding the judicial system still futilely running, the Dragoons changed laws allowing passage to the Signet and finding another fight.  After defeating their enemies, the Dragoons found Zieg already at the next Signet, sending that to the Signet Sphere.  Following Zieg to the last city and the last signet, the Dragoons traveled to Mayfil, where the Winglies had decided the fate of the dead.  Before finding the last Signet, the Dragoons came upon some old friends and foes.  Unable to stop him, Zieg destroyed the last Signet, The Moon That Never Sets sent a seed down to earth duplicated to that of the Divine Tree.  The Moon That Never Sets landed upon a welcoming, fully grown Divine Tree.

Flying to The Divine Tree, the Dragoons traveling on a magical creature given as a gift from the Wingly in Aglis.  The Dragoons crashed at the base of the Divine Tree and started their climb to the top to find the entrance into The Moon That Never Sets.  Inside, the Dragoons found the past confronting them one more time.  The Dragoons learned of Miranda's adoption when she confronted a monster influenced by what the moon knew about her mother in a forest resembling her home.  Next an entrance on Endiness twenty years before reveals the link to Haschel's past.  Haschel's challenge was his daughter who had run away years earlier.  Before Haschel's challenge though, Dart also recognized the woman as his mother.  Next, an attack by Rose's pet Dragon split the group up.  Rose and Dart were sent to the land of the dragons where Rose has to put down her Dragon of ten thousand years, again.  Meru, Albert, Miranda, Haschel and Kongol were sent the Holy Land of the Gigantos.  The five see how Kongol met Albert's uncle Doel who made war on Albert.  Upon seeing this, Kongol breaks down quick and then runs off to challenge his brother to gain power for Dart.  Both groups meet up and go with Albert as he meets up with his Uncle to confront the murder of his father from Doel's hands.  The next and last challenge from the past is Meru's where she confronts a god, which she believes was invented to justify the wingly rule in the past.

When the past had been dealt with, the Dragoons went up against Zieg's last defense.  The Dragoons dealt with that easily and went on to meet Zieg.  After Zieg stole Dart's Red-eye dragoon, they fought, with Zieg's attention on Dart mostly, until the 108th species started to take in Shana so that it could be born into the world.  Then, Zieg released the biggest surprise of all.  When Zieg had his sword in Melbu Frahma, Melbu cast a petrification spell on Zieg.  Melbu with the use of a spell, attached his soul to the soul of Zieg's dragon spirit and remained there until The Black Monster tried to kill him.  While the Dragoons stared in disbelief, Melbu's soul pulled Shana from the God's grip and entered the body himself, becoming the God of Destruction.  Another surprise came when the hooded man changed sides and confronted Melbu with his powers as a Dragoon.  Melbu took a few hits before crushing the hooded man and the hooded man passed the Divine Dragoon spirit on to Dart.  With his newly acquired form, Melbu and the Dragoons fought to see who would leave the Moon and who would perish along with it.  Fighting their hardest and putting the skills they've learned to use, the dragoons fought the hardest battle against the new God.  A transformed Dart let loose a powerful spell towards Melbu, which he thought would have ended Melbu's life.  Enormous explosions burst apart Melbu's godly body and Dart flew down to protect Shana.  After reaching the ground, Dart heard a voice from the fire and turned to see a deformed Melbu seeking vengeance.  The next voice he heard belonged to Rose, she was telling him and the other Dragoons to get out of the Moon now.  After a few protests, they obeyed what Rose had told them.  Flying away and out Dart saw Rose and Zieg both transformed flying straight at Melbu with no intention of stopping.  Gathering together all the energy and magic they had, Rose and Zieg crashed into Melbu and caused a huge explosion reacting throughout the Moon.  All the Dragoons minus Rose and Zieg had made it out safe, Dart holding Shana in his arm.  Rose and Zieg had saved the world from one disaster without being around to help with the others.


	2. Chapter 2

The fate Soa has for all 

The wind hurt, it hurt worse than Albert's spells could.  He was flying too fast and too reckless, not at all how Master Haschel had taught him.  Oh, Master Haschel. He knew this day would come, he just wasn't ready for it.  Dart, Shana and their fifteen year old daughter Tara were the last of the group to know what had happened.  Kongol had already taken the news to everyone else and it hadn't gotten any easier to deal with.

Meanwhile, a beautiful girl with hair that was a shimmering blonde in the summer and brown in the winter was running through a field towards Seles.  She was very fast, faster than a lot of the boys in town, and she was just as tall as most of them too.  She knew the way through the field, she had been here many times before.  She knew where to jump over this log and where to duck or swerve to miss that branch.  She came to the tree line that met with the end of the field.  Within moments she'd be running through Seles.  Once she reached her hometown, she kept running, dodging vendors and couples out for a stroll.  She was close to home now.  It was a good thing too, all that running and she was just now starting to hurt.  She saw her house, she could call for her mom and dad before she got there, she was close enough.  "Mom, dad, Kongol's coming in and he's coming in too fast.  He's gonna crash!"  Shana, a woman who's beauty was matched by her daughters, was the first out of the doorway directly followed by Dart.

"Tara, what are you talking about?"  Dart asked as he came to the door.   Tara pointed to where Kongol was flying, although it wasn't necessary.  The huge, golden giant could easily be seen against the calm blue sky.  They could all see his landing site,  the field and the treeline met where Tara had been running a moment before, thankfully there was nothing he could damage.  Dart, Shana and Tara ran and watched Kongol start tumbling as he got closer.   Something was wrong, they all knew it and pushed harder to meet him.  When he landed, the earth cracked and shook violently as Kongol created a crater the size of two houses.  After Dart and Shana adjusted to the vibration and Tara had caught up, the three ran over the new obstacles created by the giant's landing.  Reaching Kongol, the three realized that physically, he was fine but he was crying uncontrollably.  Once Kongol got quiet, he could finally tell Dart what was so important.  "Master Haschel said time to be with Claire, he said she is calling him.  Master Haschel still ok, but time short.  Everyone else knows, you were last."  As soon as Kongol was done speaking, Tara looked to her father who was already transforming.

"Kongol are you ok to fly?"  He asked.

"Yes, Kongol feel ok."

A little reluctantly, Dart said, "I want you to carry Tara.  Carefully!"

"Yes Dart, I understand.  Kongol will be very careful."  Kongol transformed and held out his hand to Tara.  She took his hand and remembered how he used to care for her so gently despite the hands made for battle.  She trusted these hands with the utmost care.  In Kongol's bear-like arms, Tara looked over and saw her mother in her father's arms and remembered the story her parents had told her about the dragoon origins.  Her father took off and Kongol looked down to make sure Tara was ok to fly.  She smiled her approval and Kongol took off after her father.  With the dragoon speed Kongol and her father had, it didn't take long to get to Rouge.

The four landed right beside the practice deck and Kongol and Dart changed back into human and giganto.  Tara looked at the somewhat familiar settings of Rouge, which she had seen about three times within her lifetime.  When she was here before, her parents had showed her where Aglis had risen out of the surrounding sea.  If she hadn't turned around, she would've been left behind.  All four walked across the practice deck and down a short path to Haschel's home.  He had moved recently so the walk to the deck so he could supervise his student's practice wasn't so long.  Outside Meru and her husband Guaraha were sitting outside the house.  As soon as Meru saw Dart, she stood up and went to him.  Dart had never seen Meru so serious but this was a serious matter.

Kongol led the way into the house, Dart followed by Shana and then Tara.  Kongol stepped through the doorway made to fit his size and went to the left so the three could enter.  Dart and Shana walked through and immediately looked to see who else was there.  Albert and Emille were standing at the back, dart guessed they had already been here quite some time and said what they wanted to say.  He saw Miranda stand up beside Haschel and calm walking towards Albert and Emille.  Haschel's attention was now free and turned to Dart.  His aged, tanned face unfolded out into a smile.  Dart and Shana walked towards his bed and kneeled down.  Haschel could see the tears forming in Darts eyes and said "Dart, this is not a sad moment.  I've done many great things and I'm being rewarded.  My searching couldn't re-unite me with your mother, but maybe time can."

All Dart could do was nod and look away.  Shana looked to Haschel and started to cry.  "Haschel," she said "you are the strongest man I know.  You've lived to the age of ninety-three.  That's quite an achievement considering the entire time you were always practicing your art."

He looked at her face, just as lovely as the day they destroyed the moon.  He said "Shana, your words flatter me, but my art is what has kept me going so long.  But it has been long enough."  He looked to the doorway and saw Tara staring in.  "Ah, my great-grand daughter.  You are the best sight for my sore eyes."  Tara chuckled, flattered by his comment, but tat didn't last for long and she too started to cry.  Dart and Shana looked up to see Emille leaving, Meru came in and took her place.  Haschel looked at all of his dragoon companions and his great-grand daughter.  "Being with you young people has reminded me of my Claire," was all Haschel said to the group.  He closed his eyes and suddenly started glowing purple.  Everyone soon figured out it was his dragoon spirit, which made sense.  What didn't make sense was when another purple glow separated from Haschel's.  Then came a red, dark blue, blue, green,  gold and white glow came out of Haschel's.  All the glows floated but the dark blue, which descended to beside Haschel and shined, filling the room.  When the light had subsided, to everyone's amazement, Rose was standing beside Haschel.  He opened his eyes and smiled, saying "I thought I felt your warmth again."  Rose held out her hand to Haschel, "Come on, there's this woman I met who can't wait to see you again."  Rose and Haschel glowed their dragoon colors in sync with the other spirits.  The room filled up with all the colors and faded out eventually.  A lifeless Haschel was left behind, his eyes closed and the corners of his mouth showing hints of a smile.  Kongol picked up his old master as well as his friend, and left.

No one said a thing; no one knew what to say.  Albert was the first to leave; his excuse was about poor old Noish alone with his kids.  Miranda was next, probably going to check on Queen Theresa.  Meru stayed a short while, lost in thought, but she too left.  Her and Guaraha went to see the ancestor about wingly uprisings.  After twenty-three years, there were still some winglies who couldn't forget the past and live peacefully with humans.  Dart, Shana and Tara waited for Kongol to come back.  It was a while, he had a lot to do and say probably.  A little while after sunset, Kongol solemnly walked through the doorway.  All four just looked at each other until Shana spoke up after a bit.  "Kongol, do you want to stay with us?"

 "No, Kongol must carry on Master Haschel's art in Rouge." He said.

"OK," Dart spoke up, "but you'll always have a place with us in Seles.  We should get back before it's too late.  It was good seeing you again Kongol, as always.  I'm just sorry it was under such circumstances."  All Kongol did was nod his recognition.  They all went outside, Dart, Shana and Tara going father out than Kongol.  Dart transformed and Shana hooked her hands around his neck and sat on his powerful Divine Dragoon arm.  Tara stepped towards her father and he motioned for her to get on his back.  She climbed on and put her arms where her mother's had been, Shana now had her arms on Dart's shoulders.  Dart rose from the ground and started away from Rouge.  Before her dad used his dragoon speed to get home, Tara looked back at Kongol and met his gaze.  She wondered if he was even looking at them or was lost in thought about his recently deceased friend.

Minutes later, Dart, Shana and Tara had landed beside the crater Kongol had made that afternoon.  No one said a thing as they all walked to their house.  Once inside, Tara started making her way downstairs to her room.  She stopped within the doorway and turned to her parents.  "What happens to the dragoon spirit now?"  She asked.  Dart and Shana looked at each other and back to Tara.  "You know, we only know about the spirits when we have used them.  We have no clue about the living except from what I've seen of Mayfil and there were no dragoon spirits being kept there."  Dart explained.

"I was just wondering." Tara replied.  "Good night mom, dad."  And she left for her bed.  After brushing her hair and putting on her bedclothes, Tara lay under the blanket Miranda gave her.  It had come from Mille Sesau where it continually snowed, so it had to be warm.  Falling asleep that night had been hard, even with the overpowering warmth of her blanket.  Finally, all the flying mixed along with her emotions was enough to make Tara fall asleep.  In her dream, she walked out of her house and went to the crater that Kongol's out of control landing had happened.  For some reason that she didn't know, she started digging, right in the middle of the crater.  After a few handfuls of dirt were removed, a circle of lights floated out of the spot where she had been digging.  The circle of lights had the seven colors of the Dragoon hero's.  The circle floated above her head, then descended and formed a ring around her waist, all the time rotating.  The circle glowed brilliantly.  While the circle of lights was rotating and glowing, an eighth color of light appeared in front of Tara's heart.  Realizing that this was the Divine Dragoon Spirit, Tara grabbed it and felt the warm light wash through her entire body.  In her mind, she told the spirit that she wanted to see her great grandfather again, and she knew that the spirit would help her there.  Tara took the warmth and used it to ascend.  The Divine Dragoon Spirit along with the other spirits around her waist guided her up into the clouds.  They were taking her to see Haschel, or she was going there with the help of the spirits.  The spirits were at her command, and she wanted to go to Rouge.  They landed on the practice deck, with no sight of Haschel; she flew to Neet, at the site of her mothers and most of the old villager's grave.  No sight of Haschel there, she returned home.  She landed in front of her house with only one Dragoon Spirit, the Violet Dragoon Spirit.  The spirit was pulling her inside, into her house.  She ran in, but found no Haschel.  She went down to her room and found Haschel sitting on her bed.  Hearing her footsteps, Haschel turned around and greeted Tara with a smile.  She went to hug him, but he stood up and pulled away.  "Tara, I am gone, and nothing can change that.  If you want to have me so much, look inside of you, because in your heart is where I will always live."  When that was said, Haschel moved to give Tara a hug.  When they hugged, Haschel gave off a faint purple glow, and merged with Tara.  A look of surprise came across her face, until a purple glow and a warm feeling came from her heart, making her smile.


	3. Chapter 3

A return of the past

He looked kind of strange in the forest, kind of out of place.  He was a defensive tackle for his high school football team.  He was big, but very aware and gentle, still, in football nothing got by him.  He might have looked out of place in the forest, but he felt right at home, maybe it was because he used to come up here a lot.  He still liked the city though, just not as much as his forest.  As much as he might have looked weird in the forest, his girlfriend must have looked a lot more lost.  She was a sophomore and he a junior, not too much age difference and there were few times when she acted immature.  She could fit right in with the other cheerleaders, and she had as much pep and energy that they did.  That's where they first met each other, at a football game she was cheering at last year.  He remembered her long red hair, her fair white skin and almost having trouble walking off the field normal.  She had a great smile to go with her great body.  It seemed to him that she could jump higher than the other girls, but maybe he was just watching too hard.  He'd better stop thinking about that before he had to stop the hike.  He looked back and saw her a few steps behind.  He looked to where she was walking and two steps ahead, he saw a loose rock that might've looked secure from her side.  He turned as quick as he could and grabbed her hand as she was falling from stepping on the rock.  "You ok?"

"Garrett," Sara complained between big breaths, "the water was back there.  Where are we going and why?"

"I told you when we started off, that the B. C. Bay back there was for tourists, it couldn't be as amazing as my scene." Garrett said as he pulled her up.  "The mountain hike will all be worth it trust me, I can't wait to show you, you're gonna FREAK."

"As long as it's soon. I've never been on the County trail and all this hiking and carrying this heavy backpack just isn't working for me." she said.  Then she tried to walk some more and ended up stepping on the side of her foot, and going down.  Without Garrett there to catch her she went down pretty hard on her hands which she had extended to brace her fall.  Garrett bent down, picked her up and carried her some ways down the path as she hugged his neck tight.  He passed a huge rock he recognized as a marker, wouldn't be long until he could show her his favorite spot.  He set Sara down on the rock and checked her ankle to see if it was all right.  A short break and they left for Garrett's surprise.

Seven minutes later, they reached the outline of Garret's surprise.  He hadn't heard anymore complaints from Sara, she only complained a little but she toughed through a lot.  Now all Sara could do was stare.  She had never seen something so beautiful and natural at all.  Sara was more used to the dance clubs and nightlife of Tarpon Springs.  Most of the natural in Florida had been tarnished by the never-ending flocks of tourists.  But here, the clear blue waters found there way by the source of a miniature waterfall, which crept its way from a miniature rock ledge the height of a two story home.  Sunlight found its way through the surrounding foliage that had flourished beside the pool.  Garrett watched a speechless Sara take it all in.  "Been a while since I've heard nothing come from you." he said as he started to take his shirt off.

 "You better be careful or you'll hear a lot of talking from my fists." Sara joked back at him while she stripped down to her bathing suit.  Garrett couldn't help but stare, he had seen it all before but her body was perfect.  The sunlight in Florida had done great things with her skin and her hair.  Sara walked in first with Garrett eagerly following.  Sara reached about a third of the way towards the center before she had to start swimming.  After taunting her about it, Garrett walked twice the distance Sara did before he just got on his back in the water and directed himself towards her.  With a little bit of flirting and actual swimming, Garrett and Sara stayed in the water close to an hour.  Sara got out and laid out a blanket next to the bottom of the ledge so she could lay down and enjoy the sun.  Garrett got out and put on some pants and shoes and went for a walk.  Even though this was Garrett's favorite spot, he didn't know every surrounding thing.

Walking around, Garrett realized the sensation he had around this place of comfort.  Garrett returned after a peaceful walk to find Sara close to asleep.  He laid down a blanket and took a spot next to Sara and closed his eyes.  He couldn't remember the last time that he had felt so relaxed.  Close to asleep, Garrett twitched, which brought him away from rest.  He sat up and looked around.  No time had passed since he closed his eyes and everything was the same.  Before he lay down again, he picked up on a slight sound from high up.  He looked around and saw nothing being disturbed.  He started to lay back down until he heard it again.  Looking around he saw a shadow on the ground in an odd spot.  Looking straight up from the shadow he saw a rock that had fallen off the ledge.  Thankfully its destination wasn't injurious to Garrett or Sara.  Garrett was starting to wonder why had the rock fallen when he realized more could come tumbling down.  He turned to Sara to wake her and heard the sound of rocks striking other rocks.  He looked up and saw a handful of rocks, a little bit bigger than the huge teen's fist, falling from the ledge.  Noticing that their pattern was straight for the two of them, Garrett leaned over to cover Sara.  It was all he could think to do, after all he did play offensive and defensive tackle, he could protect Sara from a couple of rocks.  He tried not to say anything as each rock hit him, but none got through to Sara thankfully.  He counted and felt seven separate rocks.  He'd definitely feel that later on.  He stood up and looked up, saw no sign of anybody or any animal.  Then he tried to fell his back.  He didn't feel any blood, which was definitely a good sign.  Oh no, he heard more rocks coming.  Not wanting to take any more hits, Garrett picked up his blanket, got down on his right knee, held the blanket as tight as he could above him and Sara and prayed it would hold.  The next seven rocks (odd Garrett thought seven again) bounced off of the blanket and away from the two.  Careful of more rocks, Garrett moved to wake Sara up now.  Throwing the blanket aside, Garrett stood up and looked to look for more falling rocks.  Seeing none, he once more went to wake Sara until one big shadow on Sara's body caught his attention.  He looked up to see a small boulder obeying gravity's pull.  Not wanting to take a hit from this boulder but stuck in his spot Garrett could only think of sports.  He had planned to catch the boulder!  "They always told us to catch with soft hands in football, soft hands" Garrett whispered to no one.  Spreading his feet to shoulder width apart, raising his hands above his head and keeping a steady watch on his target, Garrett braced himself for the catch.  The boulder met with Garrett's hands and slowed as Garrett applied his force upon it.  Gravity was hard to overtake but Garrett didn't want Sara hurt.  Applying all the force he had left that had mixed with his desire to protect Sara, Garrett raised the boulder above his head.  He had stopped the boulder and saved Sara, he was relieved.

Closely overcome by fatigue, Garrett almost dropped the boulder until he felt it lighten.  Confused, Garrett found the boulder floating above him.  Staring in amazement, Garrett saw how the boulder started emanating a gold hue that grew brighter and brighter until he could see nothing but gold.  As the light faded, Garrett noticed a marble sized golden ball floating in the air above him.  It descended until it was even with Garrett's chest and then towards him until it faded.  Turning around he saw Sara had woken up in time to see this amazing gold stone.  Both understood nothing, and couldn't comprehend what had happened.

"Where is it?" Sara asked.

"I, … I feel it inside of me… I think." Garrett responded.  Sara started to ask another question but was cut off when the center of the pool caught their attention with its new luminescence.  The pool's light blue light started to glow as Garrett's new gold stone from within glowed in time with it.  "I think that there's another one of these in that pool." Garrett informed Sara.

"Well, lets get to the bottom." Sara said.

"But, but what if its far down?  I can't make it that far."  He said.

"Then don't go, I can make it."  She said.

Before Garrett could respond Sara ran towards the center of the pool.  Garrett watched as she dove and swam down.  Meanwhile he was taking his shoes off and the pants he had put over top his trunks.  He ran as far as he could, took the biggest breath he could and went under.  Following the source of the glow, Garrett swam as hard as he could.  He could feel his air supply running down, no telling how much longer he could go.  He wanted to turn around and see how far he had gone, but that would take up time, energy and oxygen.  All he could do was swim, nothing but swim.  He felt helpless, no other option but swim.  Ignore the throbbing; ignore the want to go back, it was impossible anyway.  That throbbing in his head, the result of lack of oxygen, was growing unbearable.  How far down was this place he knew nothing about?  How far?  How … far?  How …..

There was a distorted voice, "Is he alive?  Oh, I should've never left him behind."

"He'll be fine.  Water just isn't his element." came a second voice.  From what Garrett could tell this one was aged, but there were still hints of youth in every word … she … spoke.  Yes she.  The accent was, in a category all it's own.  Wait, Garrett could move his eyelids.  He was starting to get movement back with the addition of his hearing, which helped him wait.

"He blinked, did you see that he blinked.  Oh come on Garrett, don't let water stop you." said the distorted yet distinct voice.  As his hearing reached normal functioning, Garrett was able to recognize one voice as Sara's.  At least he had found her.  Oh so slowly, it felt like every nerve from the top of his head down to the bottom of his feet individually woke up and announced their awakening.  With every nerve waking up, Garrett could once again feel the still sharp pain of the bruises on his back from the falling rocks.  He also felt cold, hard rock on his entire backside.  He must be lying down in a cave, but how?  He had been swimming; swimming after Sara and the glow.

"Ugghh…" was all Garrett could say as he slowly sat up and put a hand to his forehead.  He hadn't looked at what was around when he had opened his eyes; it had hurt too much.  He still hurt a lot but this time he took a good look around.  Yeah it was a cave, which he had no problem with until he looked up.  The ceiling was moving like water because that's what it was.  His first reaction was to take cover before it fell down but then he realized it would've fallen down by now if it were going to.  Garrett stared at the ceiling in pure astonishment until Sara called out to him.

"Garrett, are, are you OK?" Sara asked.  "Garrett?"

"Sara, the ceiling is water.  It's water!" he replied.

"I know and Meru can explain everything."  she told him.

With his eyes still fixated on the ceiling made of water, "Who?" he asked.

Sara said "Well why don't you take your eyes off the ceiling.  It won't come down I've been assured."  Finally, that got his attention turned away from the ceiling but know he was taking in the site of the cave.  It appeared that they were in a small part of a maze of caves.  The dim light was something Garrett couldn't pinpoint, but the water ceiling did seem to have a sort of luminescence that revealed cave walls.  The walls were decorated with tapestries filled with ancient writing and the faces of six people.  Finding nothing else of interest, Garrett turned his attention to the strange woman whom Sara had just met.  It didn't matter that Sara had just met her, she felt very comfortable with her.  She looked like a seventy-three year old woman with platinum hair and red eyes that held pure joy.  She was short, even compared to Sara, but her robe seemed to bulk her up a little bit.  The robe she wore was a beautiful clear water blue with gold designs sewn throughout.  The strange woman met Sara with no discomfort at all.

"Garrett, you should be alright once the oxygen returns to your body.  That was dangerous what you did but I believe that this brought you here." Meru said as she took something from inside the robe she wore.  Whatever she had, she kept it in her hand and nothing could be seen of it until a blue glow similar to the one they had been following shone from her fist.  In response to the blue light, gold light shone from Garrett's chest.  The light subsided leaving Garrett, Sara and Meru dumbfounded.  "Garrett, where is your dragoon spirit?"

"My what?" Garrett asked having no clue what she was talking about.

"The golden light we just saw, where is it?" Meru asked the rephrased question again.

"It was in this big boulder that was falling towards us.  I put my hands to the boulder and stopped it from falling.  It started shining gold then decreased in size.  A gold pebble floated to in front of my chest and then towards it and disappeared." Garrett said, recapping what had happened earlier.

Meru had a startled look on her face, "It seems that your dragoon spirit is inside you Garrett, and it sounds like it put you through a test first.  That's new to me."

"How did you know my name?" was what Garrett wanted to know first.

"Sara and I were introducing ourselves when you dropped in. She kept saying your name and I picked up on it. By the way, my name's Meru."

"Thank you for your concern.  All my friends call me Bug, please feel free to." said Garrett, trying to be friendly.

"Bug?!?  I don't understand, you're no where near the size of a bug.  Why and how did you get that nickname?" Meru asked, having no idea what bug could mean.

"Actually, it's Big Ugly Garrett." He explained.

"How horrible," Meru exclaimed as she looked Garrett over, "you're not ugly at all."  A little embarrassed, he explained that it was just fun when they were younger and the name just stuck.  After a long pause between all three, Garrett was the first to say something, "So can you explain this to us.  We have no clue what is going on."

Meru started to tell Garrett and Sara about her and the past.  "What you have taken on is a part of fate.  The golden light inside you is the harnessed spirit of a dragon called a dragoon spirit."  Meru started to explain.

"Hmmph" expressed Garrett's disbelief.  Sara hit him for that.

Ignoring him, Meru continued on, "I am from a time too long to remember.  My friends and I, we used the dragoon spirits to defeat evil…"  Meru started to tell the history forgotten by all but her.  She started with the story with the Divine Tree, of its branches, it's fruit and of it's maker.  She continued with the description of the creatures that were born of the fruits.  Following her description, she told of the dominating Winglies, and the rebellion of Humans which led to the Dragon Campaign.  She told them about the Dragon Campaign and how Human's had used Dragon's until it was found that the Dragon's spirits could be harnessed and used by someone recognized by the spirit.  She told of the Dragoon's, Melbu Frahma's and the Wingly oppressions end in the final battle.  She then began the tale of the journey with Dart, Shana and Lavitz.  She described as best she could the battles they had and when they met other Dragoon's before Meru.  Then, according to Meru came the most important part in the story, when she met Dart and the other Dragoons.  Then she told about the places they traveled like Rouge and Mille Sesau, and all the enemies they came across like Lloyd and of Lenus and Regole.  She told about the prime enemy, Zieg and the signets he kept unlocking, and she told of the Moon That Never Sets falling from the sky.  She spoke of entering the moon and battling the past and finally about how Zieg was really Melbu Frahma inside Zieg's body.  She ended with the battle between Melbu and the dragoons.  The entire time, both were intrigued but Sara was more believing than Garrett was.

When Meru had finished her story, Garrett and Sara had questions.  Garrett was the first to ask, "How can we believe your story?  I've never seen magic, how can it be real?"  Directly after he had asked his questions, Meru shined her dragoon spirit and, before he could move, a plume of water came crashing down to a stand still above his head.  Freaked out by the sudden onrush, he jumped to the side and rolled.  Meru chuckled while Sara studied the new position of the water.  Amazingly Sara found that the water came down in only the one spot above he and that it stayed there also.  Meru's dragoon spirit shone again and the water went back to its old position.  "Why did you do that!!!!!"

"Do you believe me now?" Meru simply asked.

"I'll believe anything you tell me as long as the ceiling stays up where it belongs!!!" Garrett exclaimed as he glanced back and forth between the ceiling and her.

"I have some questions." interjected Sara quietly, afraid of the ceiling falling again.

Meru sensed how she felt, "Don't worry about the ceiling, I'll keep it up where it is as long as Bug doesn't ask stupid questions anymore.  At first I didn't have that much power, but after my studies over the many years, I and the Blue-Sea Dragoon Spirit's power have excelled."

Considering that most people would consider Meru crazy, Sara believed what was said.  "First," Sara started, "how is it that you're still alive?  Your story was ancient yet you were apart of it"

"As I told you, there was a race born of the Divine Tree called the winglies."

"Yeah I remember." Sara replied.

"Well," Meru continued, " I am a wingly.  My people were granted with the ability to use magic and we lived a lot longer than the other races."

"I'll accept that.  I know I should probably have more questions but I listened to your story." Sara said while glaring at Bug, "What have you been studying?"

"On our journey, my friends and I met a lot of challenges.  I saw and felt the effect of a lot of magic.  I wanted to perform what I had seen."

"Understandable.  Finally, are there any other winglies left?"

When Sara said that, she noticed the pain that crossed Meru's face.  "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"It's been so long, I shouldn't be sore about the subject still but…" Meru's attention turned away from Garrett and Sara to a part of the past.  Surprising the two, Meru spoke while still turned away.  "After the defeat of Melbu Frahma, my fiancee Guaraha and I took the first steps towards uniting winglies and humans.  All of the winglies had been secluded and in hiding using magic.  A lot of winglies agreed with our wishes.  Ancestor Blano from my home village helped out a lot towards the peace.  There were also many that wished just the opposite.  A wingly group had been formed under the leadership of Tirst.  Guaraha and I brought together leaders from both races and made tremendous advances towards peace and coexistence."  Dealing with emotions impossible to ignore, Meru inserted another long pause to visit the past.  Sara took this time to reflect on what was just said.  The name Blano was said very easily where as Tirst was said through gritted teeth and with hatred that could easily kill.  "Guaraha, Blano, Albert and I were meeting with three other ancestors and two other kings in an open plain.  The meeting had very little time to get started before winglies appeared in the sky.  The formation that they came in resembled a dome.  There was no way out, all the winglies just floated where they had first appeared.  Everyone was observing the situation and planning ahead, until Tirst appeared in the middle right beside the meeting.  He sneered at the humans and ignored the winglies he should've been paying respect to.  He explained that he had been studying the dragon campaign and Melbu's actions during.  Melbu had planned on using powerful ancient techniques to write a powerful spell, one that would wipe out races.  Before he wrote that spell, him and the Dragon Campaign ended.  Tirst had found what Melbu achieved and finished it.  I was the first to speak and I proclaimed fraud against him and his supposed spell.  He told me that grafting his soul to the Red-eye dragon spirit took too much energy.  Tirst informed everyone that Melbu hadn't had enough energy, but that he did.  I transformed into dragoon and with my hammer ready to strike, I charged at him before he could prove any theory.  He easily pushed me aside, so I tried magic.  Halfway between the dome of Winglies and Tirst, I landed.  I began with snow, brilliantly colored, then I flew as high as I could and thrust down my hammer, head first.  My hammer flew through the air, with me on the end, and it landed in the spot I had once stood, causing ice to erupt all around.  My balance with my right foot on the end of the handle was exactly the same as my focus, they were both perfect.  Ice cold fog vented from the ice under my handle and gathered around Tirst.  The fog gathered around him and became ice trapping Tirst inside.  My focus on my energy was complete, and all my energy formed in my hands.  I spread my hands apart and the energy followed my movements.  I folded my hand over my chest, and then brought down my hands, sending all of my magical energy towards Tirst, still trapped in the ice.  The moment my energy hit the ice, it exploded and it was once again snowing.  I grabbed my hammer, thinking that Tirst wasn't a threat any longer.  When the snow cleared, Tirst had already started his spell, although his feet had been spread apart to sustain the blast and blood was dripping from his hairline.  The words spilling from his mouth, and his own energy gathering in his hands.  Albert transformed and started his wind spell Gaspless, until a group of winglies transported him away.  Tirst's voice seemed to echo to me until I realized the chorus of the surrounding winglies joining in.  Tirst raised his hands high into the air to a spot aimed at by the dome of winglies.  Gathering in Tirst's hands was a sphere of energy that was soon to spread throughout Endiness.  Ancestor Blano and Guaraha were conjuring up spells to attack Tirst.  The bottom level of winglies left there posts and surrounded the two halting their spell.  Blano shouted to me that part of the spell Tirst was using was wingly, not human.  I got up during the third to last word.  The second to last I was charging towards him.  The last word rolled off his tongue as I hit him in the stomach.  We toppled over each other, Tirst wincing in pain.  We crash landed and I bounced back up, glad to see him wincing until I noticed all the other winglies around me doing the same.  The realization of not getting there in time set in and I looked down to see Tirst's body become a gas.  I turned to Guaraha to see him doubled over in pain and was at his side in no time and caught him as he fell towards the ground.  I didn't care about whatever had happened or if I was in danger.  The entire wingly race would die but most importantly, Guaraha was dying in my arms.  I never got to say goodbye…  As he lay in my arms, his outline started to blur and his wincing slowed down.  I saw the comfort of being in my arms in the last look his face would ever hold.  And then he was the same gas that Tirst was mixing with the wind.  I turned to Blano to see him fighting the spell Tirst had sent out.  Hardly able to see past the tears, I hurried to him to see him give up.  He told me that my dragon spirit made me something greater than a wingly, a dragoon.  And then he too, was gone."

Meru ended her story and detached herself from Garrett and Sara.  It wasn't too long before Meru spoke up, "I've detached myself from the world studying magic so that no one else has to lose a loved on."  Sara and Garrett tried to comfort this living legend that they had just met.  "I'll be fine," Meru told them, "but we have to find the other dragoons."

"I don't understand." Garrett said.

"Fate only calls upon the aid of dragoons when it's needed.  There must be others." Said Meru.

"How will we know who's dragoon worthy and who isn't?" Sara asked.

"We won't, they'll be made known by fate in the future.  Until then, I could help you with your dragoon skills and magic." Meru told him.

"I thought you'd never say something.  I want to know what this thing does." he said with eagerness.


End file.
